Iran war live updates: Strikes pummel Tehran, Trump’s final deadline looms

Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Strait of Hormuz deadline, Iranians have expressed both their hopes and fears about the war.

“I had expected Trump would offer us something fancier than hell,” said Mahmoud Azimi, 35, who was carrying home milk and a sack of potatoes. “We have experienced an inferno because of many bad things like sanctions, assassinations and wars. So, at the end, hell is being replaced by hell!”

Reza Alaghemand 24, who runs an ice cream stall, urged Iran to keep fighting against Israel and the U.S.“
“If we stop the war, they soon wage another war,” he said. “Once and for all, we should teach them an unforgettable lesson not to attack us.”

Maryam Mehrabi, a 67-year-old retiree, recounted how it was the third war she’d seen in her life.

“There was the 1980s war that Iraq waged against Iran. Then the June war that the U.S. and Israel launched and I lost a close friend,” she said. “I have no idea what is waiting for us ahead of these threats.”

One young couple, in a coffee shop in central Tehran, offered their opinions on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

“I hate this situation. Why are officials on both sides only threatening to go into a deeper war with more damages?” the woman asked. “All night long, we hear the sound of strikes and bombings and then in the daytime, we are occasionally stopped by mushrooming checkpoints.”

Her partner shrugged.

“I feel we are stuck between the blades of a pair of scissors,” he said. “It is more than a month that we have had no Internet and now we are going to face a power cut.”